Novak Djokovic was captured yelling expletives at a heckler during his semifinal loss to Casper Ruud at the Monte-Carlo Masters on Saturday (April 13).

The World No. 1 endured a tough start to his last-four clash against his eighth-seeded opponent, dropping two of his first three service games to trail 1-4. Although he got one break back, that wasn’t enough as Ruud bagged the opening set 6-4.

The Serb immediately struck back in the second set, breaking the Norwegian twice to take the set 6-1. The 24-time Major winner was then broken in the first game of the decider, but he got the break back in the seventh game of the set.

It was at this point of the match that disaster struck; serving at 3-4 (15-0) from the near side of the court, Novak Djokovic missed a regulation forehand from the baseline. Following the error, the 36-year-old turned his attention to a fan who had apparently been disturbing him during the match, shouting:

“Shut the f**k up!”

The top seed proceeded to mutter more indiscernible words to the spectator. While the Serb held his serve to bring the score to 4-4, he was broken in his next service game as Casper Ruud won 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to set up a title bout against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte-Carlo.

“You shut up, you be quiet” – When Novak Djokovic directed his ire at Great Britain’s fans at Davis Cup Finals 2023

Fans being caught in Novak Djokovic’s crosshairs has certainly become a regular sight lately. Last November, the World No. 1 let loose on a group of British fans after his country’s 2-0 win over Great Britain in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.

The English fans gave some uproarious support to their team that echoed throughout the stadium. But while that was passable behavior, they made the dubious choice to play drums during the 36-year-old’s on-court interview following his tie-winning defeat of Cameron Norrie.

Incensed by this, Djokovic gave them piece of mind, saying:

“Learn how to respect players, learn how to respect people, you shut up, you be quiet.”

More recently, the 24-time Major winner picked up a squabble with a heckler during his second-round win over Alexei Popyrin at this year’s Australian Open. He said to the fan:

‘Come and say that in my face.”

Novak Djokovic will now get some rest before he resumes his claycourt season. The Serb is next expected to play at the Madrid Masters, which begins on April 22.